The (Not So) Local Tourists: Where to see an alligator in PCB - News - Panama City News Herald
PANAMA CITY — Florida, we need to talk.
See, up North, there is a gross misconception about alligators. There’s a pretty prevalent belief that alligators are everywhere — every creek, stream, retention pond, heck even a rock in a puddle might be an alligator snout. We hear about them taking up residence on golf courses, ending up in swimming pools, even crawling up through your yard to knock on your front door. Hide your kids, hide your pets, gators are coming.
Even my parents, two people I consider to be rather reasonable, made comments about alligators coming into the yard and how I’d need to watch out for my cats. Katie spent a long, long time searching only for apartments and houses with fenced-in yards, fearful a gator-beast would emerge from the nearest storm drain to snatch up little Addie, her poor blind Cocker Spaniel.
Well here we are, and in the nearly two years I’ve been living here, I can honestly say that not once have I ever been accosted by an alligator coming up through my pipes, or swimming by during a particularly bad rainstorm. And I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed.
Hoping to remedy this disappointment and track down some gators, we took an airboat tour with Boggy Bayou Airboat Tours, and it was incredible. I’d never been on an airboat before and truthfully, I’m not super keen on boats. But something about the hum of the giant fan propelling us across the bay and the unobstructed view of the water, it was like being on a rollercoaster in the water, but without all the dips and turns. Or I imagine it would be like riding a Harley out in the water, but not like a jet-ski because I’ve ridden jet-skis and it’s not the same. Maybe it defies comparison. Just go do it.
You’ll spend your tour with Captain Dave, a retired FWC officer who really knows his stuff. He’s seen it all and he even designed the airboat to his own specifications and had it custom built. And what gets this attraction on The (Not So) Local Tourist list is the sheer amount of new information and new experiences you’ll have on this trip, even if you’ve lived in Bay County for years. Have you ever been to an abandoned shrimp farm? That alone is worth the trip. Plus Capt. Dave is just as excited about every single alligator and fiddler crab and deer and tree as you are, and that’s saying something for a guy who has been out there thousands of times.
Here are some other places we talk about this week where you can see gators:
St. Andrews State Park: There’s Gator Lake, which really speaks for itself. You can sometimes find gators (sometimes alarmingly) close to the shore, usually inches from tourists with cameras who don’t realize gators can sprint up to 30 miles per hour if they so choose. ZooWorld or Fudpucker’s: I know, going to a zoo isn’t very local of you, but they just put in a brand new gator exhibit with tons of gators and a walkover that puts your right near them. Plus you can feed them dog food, which makes me just think of them as big dogs. And if you want to eat and watch gators, Fudpucker’s over in Destin has tons of gators you can feed with a fishing pole, and an albino gator. There you have it, folks. Gators. And not “those” Gators, because I still really don’t understand that whole thing. These are real, live wild alligators and they’re right in your backyard. But not literally, hopefully. If they are though, send us a picture and we’ll get it in the paper. And don’t forget to listen to this week’s episode online.
Signing off for this week, and feel free to reach out to us on Twitter at @pcnheryndion and @pcnhkatieL!
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